ALFA DE CRONBACH

During shutdown execution the management must emphasize on achieving the safety goal� It requires a coordinated effort by all stakeholders involved in the shutdown process� While excellent performance is expected throughout plant operations on a day-to-day basis by own employees, additional effort and rigor during shutdowns is required due to increased activity levels and involvement of many contract workers� The shutdown manager must assure that potential physical, mechanical, chemical, and health hazards are rec- ognized and provisions are made for safe operating practices and appro- priate protective measures are in place� These measures may include hard hats, safety glasses and goggles, safety shoes, hearing protection, respira- tory protection, and protective clothing such as fire-resistant clothing where required� In addition, procedures should be established to assure compli- ance with applicable regulations and standards�

The shutdown team needs to have experience in plant operations, haz- ardous materials management (asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury, catalyst handling), occupational hygiene, and construction safety to ensure success and prevent incidents from occurring� A pre-assessment of work areas should be completed by the shutdown team during the pre- planning stage of the shutdown� The assessment should involve a discus- sion of work scope and a visual assessment of the work area for potential worker exposure risks� Potential risks need to be flagged and brought to the attention of the shutdown team� A detailed plan then needs to be developed for dealing with the hazards� Occupational health and safety hazards that need to be integrated into the shutdown plan include airborne contaminants (asbestos, fly ash, coal dust, catalyst dusts, welding fumes, refractory ceramic fibers, lead, radiography); personal fall protection:

• Falling objects, eye protection, slipping and tripping hazards, proper storage of gas/air cylinders

• Confined space entry and vessel ventilation

One of the major hazards during shutdown is exposure to hazardous sub- stances, as these are a deviation from routine operations� Plant turnarounds require careful planning, scheduling, and step-by-step procedures to make sure that unanticipated exposures do not occur� Any plant shutdown requires a complete plan in writing to cover all activities, the impact on other

operations, and emergency planning� Plans are normally formulated by plant personnel in conjunction with contractors�

Hazardous Chemicals and Catalysts

In a refinery, hazardous chemicals can come from many sources and in many forms� In crude oil, there are impurities such as sulfur, vanadium, and arse- nic compounds� These components are inherently hazardous to humans, as are the other chemicals added during processing� The main hazards in this process come from possible exposure to the catalysts, hydrofluoric acid or sulfuric acid, and their dusts, by-products, and residues, as well as hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, heat, and noise� Other processes utilize acid cata- lysts and caustic “washes�” These can lead to hazardous situations, especially in shutdowns where a contractor’s personnel may be exposed to residues or other contaminants� Other hazards include fire, explosion, toxicity, corrosive- ness, and asphyxiation� Information on hazardous materials manufactured or stored in a refinery should be supplied by the client’s representative when a work permit is issued� Information is required from refinery personnel and specialized training is required in the necessary procedures and personal protective equipment, including its care and use�

Health and Hygiene Hazards

Table 10�1 reviews common hazardous chemicals and chemical groups typi- cally present and their most significant hazards to workers� Care should be exercised at all times to avoid inhaling solvent vapors, toxic gases, and other

TABLE 10.1

Common Hazardous Chemicals

Material Dominant Hazard

Additives Usually skin irritants Ammonia Toxic on inhalation

Asbestos Designated substance under construction Carbon monoxide Toxic on inhalation

Caustic soda Corrosive to skin and eyes

Chlorine Corrosive to skin and tissue on contact or inhalation Hydrogen sulfide Toxic on inhalation

Nitrogen Asphyxiant

Silica Designated substance under industrial regulations Sulfuric acid Corrosive to skin and tissue on contact or inhalation Sulfur dioxide Toxic on inhalation

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respiratory contaminants� Because of the many hazards from burns and skin contact, most plants require that you wear long-sleeved shirts or coveralls�

Common Hazards

Fire and Explosion

Other principal hazards at refineries are fire and explosion� Refineries pro- cess a multitude of products with low flash points� Although systems and operating practices are designed to prevent such catastrophes, they can occur� Constant monitoring is therefore required� Safeguards include warn- ing systems, emergency procedures, and permit systems for any kind of hot or other potentially dangerous work� These requirements must be under- stood and followed by all workers� The use of matches, lighters, cigarettes, and other smoking material is generally banned in the plant except in spe- cially designated areas�

Confined Spaces

On most jobsites, there are potential confined space hazards� These hazards are multiplied, however, on a refinery site because of the complex collec- tion of tanks, reactors, vessels, and ducts combined with a wide variety of hazardous chemicals and emissions, often in enclosed areas� Many of these chemicals can produce oxygen-deficient, toxic, or explosive atmospheres� Knowledge of general confined space procedures and specific in-plant requirements is critical in refinery work�

Confined Space Entry and Vessel Ventilation

Confined space work during shutdowns can be associated with refractory removal and replacement, chemical cleaning, catalyst handling, welding/ gouging, and coating applications to name a few� In these “closed-in” envi- ronments, there is usually an increased potential for worker exposure� Attention needs to be given to heat stress, personal protective equipment and ventilation requirements� All personnel entering into a confined space must have specialized training�

Vessel ventilation is critical prior to workers entering into the confined space� The key reasons vessels are ventilated are to purge the vessels of pro- cess contaminants such as hydrocarbons, inert gases, and steam; for comfort ventilation; for heat stress control; and to control generated contaminants� The success of ventilation is verified by gas testing prior to entry� Gas testing typically includes testing for lower explosive levels, oxygen percentage, tox- ics such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and carbon monoxide (CO)�

Airborne Contaminants

In dealing with airborne contaminants, the shutdown team’s goals are to con- trol risk of worker exposure to airborne fiber; to control risk of airborne fiber release into the plant environment; and to identify improvements to programs�

Personal Fall Protection

Workers exposed to falls need to meet the minimum requirements of provincial/local occupational health and safety (OH&S) regulations� If handrails or floor gratings are removed to facilitate work, workers must use approved fall restraint or fall arrest equipment� Other workers must be pro- tected by either temporary scaffold guardrails or a flagged/ribboned area a minimum of 6 ft from the fall hazard� The flagged area should not be left unattended for long periods of time�

Falling Objects

Job tasks that pose a risk of falling objects should be flagged off� A plant procedure should be developed and understood for flagging and ribboning� Past experiences show near-miss incidents occur with falling objects include hoisting materials and equipment; storage of tools and material laid down inside the toe boarded area of a scaffold or work platform; passing of materi- als or equipment from hand to hand outside the bounds of the handrails and toe boards, work platforms, and scaffolds�

Eye Protection

Safety goggles are required during work tasks that involve grinding, buff- ing, and all cut and saw operations�

Slip and Trip Hazards

Slipping and tripping hazards are common during shutdowns, and can be minimized by ensuring contractors implement proper housekeeping proce- dures� Wet materials such as oil, wet ash, and water should be cleaned up immediately or flagged off as slip hazards�

Areas used for lay-down equipment must be arranged to prevent tripping hazards in common walkways� Hoses, cords, and air lines must be arranged to prevent tripping hazards in walkways� Scaffold support piping and hoist support piping (typically used for hoists at floor levels) should be flagged and ribboned for visibility�

Proper Storage of Gas/Air Cylinders

All air and gas cylinders should have the main valves closed before work- ers leave their areas for all breaks� Regulators should be removed and

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safety caps installed at the end of each work shift� All cylinders should be securely stored at all times�

Safety Planning

The participation of owners in safety starts at the very beginning and lasts till the end� Owner involvement in safety planning includes selecting safe contractors, addressing safety in design, including safety requirement in the execution, and being actively involved in the shutdown safety management�

Owners must make a group responsible for planning, developing, orga- nizing, implementing, and auditing of a safety system for the shutdown job� They must develop a structure to assure implementation of the commit- ment to safety and health at work by own employees and contract workers� Owners must ensure

• In-house safety rules are in place to provide instructions for achiev- ing safety management objectives�

• Training is imparted to equip personnel with knowledge to work safely and without risk to health�

• Evaluation of job-related hazards or potential hazards and develop- ment of safety procedures are done well ahead of execution�

• Promotion of safety and health awareness at the workplace�

• Evaluation, selection, and control of contractors and subcontractors to ensure that they are fully aware of their safety obligations and are in fact meeting them�

• Emergency preparedness to develop, communicate, and exe- cute plans prescribing the effective management of emergency situations�

Safety Preplanning

An important aspect of preplanning is to integrate occupational health and safety into the overall shutdown plan� Ownership needs to be created by the shutdown team, which will involve key stakeholders, SHE professionals, and contractors� Unique hazards occur during shutdowns that sometimes are not well understood by plant personnel� It is therefore important during the preplanning stages that a clear work scope is prepared and a plan is put into place to manage all safety and occupational hazards�

To bring increased focus on occupational health and safety during shut- downs, it is required to document safe work plans and hazard assessments

for all work scope� A list of safety responsibilities for managing safety and health by everyone involved in the work activity should be followed� A list of risks and the risk assessment results, including the contingency plans for foreseeable emergencies should be noted� The procedures for monitor- ing and assessing the implementation of these actions should be carried out� Occupational health and safety budgets and resources need to be consid- ered for collection and analysis of hazards such as asbestos, lead, refractory, silica, welding, and off-gassing materials� Specialized instruments such as photoionization detectors, H2S detectors, are excellent for quick detection�

But sometimes are expensive and not easy to obtain�

Evaluation and Selection of Contractors and Subcontractors

Evaluation and Selection Strategy

The evaluation and selection strategy should clearly aim at ensuring that contractors and subcontractors with knowledge of good safety standards and a good record of putting them into practice would be selected for the work� A practicable approach to evaluate and select suitable contractors and subcontractors is set out below:

1� Each contractor and subcontractor wishing to qualify as a bidder should be asked to provide a safety policy, which would be vetted to assess its adequacy�

2� The contractor and subcontractor should also be required to submit the safety organization and details of responsibility, track records in safety, working experience with clients of high safety standards, safe systems of work/safety programs in place, current safety management system, and training standards� These should also be vetted to assess adequacy� Pre-bid briefing should be provided to all qualified bidders� They should be invited in writing to attend the briefing and their attendance should be recorded� Provisions in the contract, as well as the local safety laws that apply, should be clearly communicated to bidders in the briefing�

Bidders should identify all of the safety and health hazards within the specifications� To help them do this, a checklist on all the common safety and health problems, which may arise during the work should be provided/com- municated to them in the specifications before the bid is made�

• The bids submitted by the potential subcontractors should be checked against the potential safety and health problems to ensure that all the safety and health hazards that may arise during the work have been clearly identified by them and that proper provisions have been made for the control of the risks assessed� Each potential sub- contractor should also be required to submit an outline safety plan

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for the implementation of the risk control measures� The outline safety plan should be set out in summary from the subcontractor’s proposed means of complying with his or her obligations in relation to safety and health at work�

• The contract should go to the subcontractor who is able to identify all the safety and health hazards that may arise during the work, can assure that the most proper and adequate provisions have been made for the control of the risks, and has the best outline safety plan compared to other bidders�

The contractor should provide all safety and personal protective equipment (PPE) required to complete the contracted scope of work�

The contractor should ensure that the supervisor on site is well trained on environment, health, and safety activities and regulations in the perfor- mance of the work�

Safe Work Practices and Procedures

Site Access and Use

All sites must have controlled access to limit unauthorized individuals from entering the construction area�

Cleanup

The contractor shall keep the work area, specifically walking and working surfaces, clean and free from debris and trash, which could cause slipping and tripping hazards� Tools, materials, dirt, lumber, concrete, metal, insu- lation, paper, etc� should be promptly cleared and disposed of by the con- tractor� All debris should be disposed of each day off the campus or in a contractor-supplied dumpster�

General Safety

• Hearing protection and safety glasses must be worn in all operating areas or as posted�

• Respiratory protection or equipment must be fit-tested� Facial hair is unacceptable where the mask must make an airtight seal against the face�

• Shirts must be long-sleeved and worn with full-length pants or coveralls�

• Clothing must not be of a flammable type such as nylon, Dacron, acrylic, or blends� Fire-resistant types include cotton, Nomex, and Proban� • Other PPE required may include acid hood, impervious outerwear,

rubber boots, face shields, rubber gloves, disposable coveralls, mono- goggles, and fall-arrest equipment�

• Smoking is allowed only in designated areas� • Vehicle entry is by permit only�

• Vehicles must be shut down at the sound of any emergency alarm�

Evaluation of Job-Related Hazards

This refers to carrying out hazard analysis for jobs� The objective of haz- ard analysis should be to provide a means whereby job hazards or potential hazards are identified, evaluated, and managed in a way that eliminates or reduces them to an acceptable level� Safe working procedures and safety pre- cautions that are to be taken to prevent the hazards and to control the risks should be developed after the hazard analysis�

Hazard identification is the process of identifying all situations or events that could give rise to the potential for injury, illness, or damage to plant or property� Hazard identification should take into account how things are being done, where they are done, and who is doing them, and should also consider how many people are exposed to each hazard identified and for how long�

The following should be accorded top priority in the hazard identification process:

• High frequency of accidents or near misses

Jobs or works with a high frequency of accidents or near misses pose a significant threat to the safety and health of employees at work�

• History of serious accidents causing fatalities

Jobs or works that have already produced fatalities, disabling injuries or illnesses, regardless of the frequency, should have a high priority in the hazard identification process�

• Existence of a potential for serious harm

Jobs or works that have the potential to cause serious injury or harm should be analyzed by the hazard identification process, even if they have never produced an injury or illness�

• Introduction of new jobs or work

Whenever a new job or work is introduced, a hazard identification pro- cess should be conducted before any employee is assigned to it� • Recent changes in procedures, standards, or legislation

Jobs or work that have undergone a change in procedure, equipment, or materials, and jobs or work whose operation may have been affected by new regulations or standards should require the carrying out of haz- ard identification process�

PPE

In the hierarchy of control measures, PPE should always be regarded as the “last resort” to protect against risks to safety and health� Engineering

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controls and safe systems of work should always be considered first� It may be possible to do the job by another method, which will not require the use of PPE or, if that is not possible, to adopt other more effective safeguards�

However, in some circumstances, PPE will still be needed to control the risk adequately�

PPE includes the following, when they are worn for protection of safety and health:

1� Protective clothing such as aprons, protective clothing for adverse weather conditions, gloves, safety footwear, safety helmets, high- visibility waistcoats, etc�

2� Protective equipment such as eye protectors, hearing protectors, life jackets, respirators, breathing apparatus including those used underwater, and safety harness

The shutdown manager and the contractors should ensure that appropri- ate PPE and training for its usage is provided to the workers�

1� Conducting PPE risk assessment: If it is necessary to provide PPE, an enterprise should conduct an assessment� The purpose of the assess- ment is to ensure the correct PPE is chosen for the particular risk� Except in the simplest and most obvious cases that can be repeated and explained at any time, the assessment will need to be recorded and kept readily accessible by those who need to know the results� 2� Proper selection of PPE: The proprietor or contractor of an enterprise

should determine what type of PPE is required, taking into consider- ation the legal requirements for specific situations, the intended use of the PPE, the manufacturer’s product standards, the ergonomics of the design of the PPE, acceptability of the PPE to its wearer and user, and, if used in conjunction with other PPE, compatibility with the PPE in question, etc�

3� Steps to ensure adequate supply of PPE, including replacement supply